The Fuchs Group mourns the death of Dieter Fuchs - The company’s founder dies at the age of 90

01 März 2019

The Fuchs Group mourns the passing of Dieter Fuchs. The founder of Germany’s biggest spice producer died on 1 March 2019 at the age of 90.

Nils Meyer-Pries, Chairman of the Fuchs Group’s Management Board, says “We are deeply saddened by the death of Dieter Fuchs. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family. With the passing of Dieter Fuchs, we lose a unique individual and a great entrepreneurial personality. We shall greatly miss his enterprising spirit and infectious enthusiasm for new taste experiences.”

The success story of Dieter Fuchs began in 1952. At that time, riding his bicycle, the 25-year-old delivered salt and pepper in bags to households in Dissen. An unconventional idea developed into his own company with great innovative vision: the famous Fuchs Decor Box was launched into retail in 1963, and in 1970 Dieter Fuchs introduced the first spice fixtures for the supermarkets. Dieter Fuchs found an entrepreneurial route into foreign countries at a very early stage, developing a direct route to the origins of the spices, and opened up new, important markets abroad in Europe, North and South America and Asia. Today, the Fuchs Group is the world’s biggest privately-owned spice company.

The company’s founder shaped it for six decades with abundant curiosity and courage, tireless dedication and great vision. In this endeavour, good wasn’t good enough for him. Dieter Fuchs was uncompromising towards quality: “We represent the highest quality from seed to kitchen” was Dieter Fuchs’ guiding principle, and this remains the benchmark for every decision in the Fuchs Group today. From raw materials to finished product, the company demands an active influence on quality and the flavour of the products throughout the entire added value chain.

None of that will change in the future. According to Management Board Chairman Meyer-Pries: “Entirely in the spirit of our company’s founder, our driving force and aspiration will always be to rediscover the world of flavour again and again, to seek out trends and to work on innovative solutions to further expand our leading position in the market. We want to be the first point of contact for the flavourful and varied preparation of food.”

Dieter Fuchs had already transferred the majority of his company shares to the non-profit Dieter Fuchs Foundation in 2016, therefore effectively completing the succession planning. Because the wellbeing of today’s approx. 3,000 employees was particularly important to the entrepreneur.

Since the company’s founder had increasingly withdrawn from operational management in recent years, the company’s future, in the spirit of his philosophy had passed into the hands of today’s Management Board under the Chairmanship of Nils Meyer-Pries. According to Meyer-Pries: “His tireless dedication to the company and his deep sense of responsibility for the employees are both our incentive and our obligation.” The transfer of the shareholding to the Dieter Fuchs Foundation has secured and safeguarded the Fuchs Group’s independence, while the connection between the family and the company remains in place.

The Fuchs Group

The Fuchs Group, whose headquarters are in Lower Saxon, Dissen, is the largest German herbs and spices producer and largest privately held herbs and spices company worldwide. Founded in 1952 by Dieter Fuchs, the Fuchs Group offers retailers, the foodservice channel and food manufacturers a wide range of over 8,000 products including spices, delicacies and innovative food technology. The range includes brands such as Fuchs, Ostmann, Ubena, Bart, Bamboo Garden and Kattus. Nearly 3,000 employees in ten countries on four continents work hard to ensure the highest quality from the raw goods to the finished product.